An Analysis of Approaches to Teaching Literature

Abstract

This study analyzes the approaches to teaching literature in terms of their major concerns in a literary text, the roles of teachers and students that these approaches demand while handling literary texts, and the limitations the approaches have. The data were gathered from existing theoretical and empirical literature and analyzed descriptively and critically. The study shows that the approaches to teaching literature acknowledge literary texts for their own purposes. For example, a language-based approach treats literature as one of the authentic sources of language teaching and learning to acquire better proficiency of language by students. Likewise, information-based and new criticism approaches regard literature as material to facilitate students to acquire the skills of appreciation. Response-based and other critical literary approaches support the analysis of literary texts using different critical lenses. Concerning the roles of students under the adoption of the aforementioned approaches to teaching literature, the reader-response approach could provide enough space for the students’ responses. The study emphasizes the use of multiple approaches for effective teaching learning of literature.